Solar Eclipse 2024: Last minute options to buy viewing glasses, make your own
PHILADELPHIA - While stores like Lowes and Walmart had eclipse glasses in stock, some retailers sold out this week.
If you still want glasses, you may be able to get them in time from Amazon. Before you do, check the brand.
Make sure your eclipse glasses are safe and made correctly. NASA links to the American Astronomical Society, who have safety recommendations. The American Astronomical Society (AAS) put together a list of brands, some of which are on Amazon, of eclipse glasses makers who they believe meet the ISO 12312-2 international standard.
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The ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization, and they set standards for all sorts of things, like eclipse glasses.
We found some of the eclipse glasses retailers from that AAS list like Heloclipse, Eclipsee, and Medical King on Amazon as well as VisiSolar, which is a filter for your cell phone.
NASA says eclipse glasses also work to slide over your cell phone camera, but they warn to not look at the sun as you frame and set everything up. Solar filters sold online and at stores, when they had them in stock, are much bigger than eclipse glasses, making it easier to frame things up without looking at the sun.
No time to order from Amazon? We got you.
How to make your own eclipse safety viewer
Did you know you can use a colander for straining pasta as a way to safely view the eclipse?
It's one of a few ideas NASA has. They also explain how to view the eclipse with a cerial or snack food box.
You can also just use a piece of paper and tinfoil. Another idea is poking a hole with a pen or pin through a white paper plate and having another plate underneath.
For all of these make at home ideas, you put the sun behind you when you use them. With the sun on your back, hold up your colander, cereal box, or paper plate up in the sky so that the sun shines through the tiny hole. When the beam of sunlight goes through the hole, you'll see the sun looks like during the eclipse as a projection through your colander, in your cereal box, or onto your white plate.
From 2:08 PM through 4:35 PM in Philadelphia, you'll be able to see the sun have different crescent shapes. 3:23 PM is when the moon will block out 90% of the sun, and you'll see the tiniest crescent sun projected through your made at home item.
Never look at the sun or hold your make at home device between your eyes and the sun. Always have the sun at your back with these at home creations.